Roly-Poly Dolls | 7th Doctor

Just one more week until the start of Doctor Who series 10! And we’re rolling on with The Twelve-ish Doctor Dolls. Today we turn our attention to the 7th Doctor. Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor was an affable chap whose bumbling nature was often used to disguise his sharp, calculating intelligence. With a dashing Panama hat and his famous umbrella, this 7th Doctor doll is just as eccentric and astute as his inspiration.

Patterns:

The first step is to make the doll head and arms. Follow the directions in the pattern. See the posts for the 1st and 2nd Doctor dolls for more detailed photos. Next, paint the face. Like most of the other Doctor’s, Sylvster McCoy’s are a light or cornflower blue. I recommend using a paintbrush with a fine tip or the head of a pin to paint on the fine details.

Unravel the crepe wool hair and use a steamer or a hair straightener to just slightly take out the curl. The 7th Doctor’s curly, messy hair is often hidden under a Panama hat. I basically did the same style I did for the 3rd and 6th Doctors but cut it shorter. Apply glue along the hairline of the doll. Cut off small strips of the wool, stretch them out into a 1/2-inch line, and stick one end into the glue. Use more glue as needed to glue down the hair. Glue on more strips of wool hair as needed to fill in the hair. After the glue has dried, use scissors to trim off any excess hair. You can use some hair gel and hairspray to control any flyaway hairs.

For some reason craft stores don’t carry mustard yellow fabric with a blue chevron and red question mark pattern. Go figure! That means it’s time to pull out the fabric markers again. Use a light blue fabric marker for the chevron. Each little “V” in the chevron pattern is 1/2-inch wide and 1/2-inch tall. I recommend measuring it out beforehand and placing a dot at each point along the pattern. Once you’ve done that, take a red fabric marker and fill the pattern in with red question marks.

Then it’s time to sew together the waistcoat and trousers. Follow the directions in the pattern. While you’re doing that, don’t forget to fill a fold top sandwich bag with birdseed or rice and tie off the top. It should be about the size of an orange or a small softball.

The final step in making the waist coat and trousers involves gathering stitches around the neck of the doll. Here are some important tips to remember when gathering stitches:

Change the stitch length on your sewing machine to the longest stitch possible.

Do not back-stitch at the start or end of your line.

Make sure the two lines of stitches are parallel and do not cross paths.

Gather either all the top stitches or all the bottom stitches. Do not gather both the top and bottom.

Once the neck has been gathered and tied off, push the bag of birdseed through the bottom hole and tighten the drawstring. Tie off the drawstring.

Now it’s time to sew the shirt and collar. Follow the directions in the pattern. Similar to the 5th Doctor doll, you’re going to sew 1/8″ blue ribbon on both sides of the shirt piece. Glue the shirt to the doll before gluing the collar around the neck of the doll using permanent adhesive. Fold back both ends of the collar and glue them down as well. Use pins to hold both in place while the glue dries.

Next, sew the Doctor’s red paisley tie. Follow the instructions in the pattern. Glue the tie between the ends of the collar.

Sew the 7th Doctor’s coat. Follow the instructions in the pattern. After the 6th Doctor’s coat, this should be downright easy!

Next, sew the 7th Doctor’ scarf using the same fabric you used to make the necktie. Follow the instructions in the pattern. Drape the finished scarf around the doll’s neck and under the lapels of the coat.

The hat I bought for the doll and linked in the supplies doesn’t come in white, so you’ll need to paint it white first. Sew the red paisley band that will go around the hat using the instructions in the pattern. Once the paint dries, glue the band around the brim of the hat using permanent adhesive.

Mold air-dry clay into a question mark around the wooden handle of a paper drink umbrella. Once the clay dries, paint the handle and top red, the canopy black, and the ends of the ribs silver. Allow the paint to dry before gluing the umbrella in the doll’s hand.

And that’s your 7th Doctor doll done. And just like 7th Doctor, this little roly-poly doll is delightfully charming and whimsical!

Tomorrow’s The Twelve-ish Doctor Dolls post is a fun DIY 8th Doctor doll, so be sure to come back.

What’s your favorite 7th Doctor episode or moment? Let me know in the comments below! Mine is “Paradise Towers”. Purely because it has a killer “robot”/glorified pool toy. Now, it’s decision time. Will you share this post on social media or not? Every great decision creates ripples, you know? Like a huge boulder dropping in a lake. Go ahead and make some waves by sharing this post with your friends!